Well, I’ve lined up my grapes for this coming fall. I’m buying 100 lbs of sangiovese from BlackStock Vineyards located in the Appalachian foothills near Dahlonega, GA. According to the owner, the heat this year is pushing his merlot and sangiovese to ripen early and the projected harvest time for these two varieties is the second week of Sept. I’m also planning to try to scam some Norton from a new winery/vineyard located near where I live in north central Alabama. The winery (Ozan Cellars) is schedule to open soon and grows Norton and F/A hybrids. If that doesn’t work out, I’m perusing the 2006 frozen grape price list from Brehm Vineyards. I have my eye on some Mendocino Co. syrah and Sonoma Co. grenache (can someone say Rhone-style blend?)

To the other home winemakers on the forum, what’s your winemaking plans for this fall?

In fact, just this past week I have begun my efforts to procure a source for my grapes this year. I am trying to locate a well-tended Concord vineyard in the Grimsby area that will let me pick by hand. I am pretty much finished with pre-picked/machine-plucked grapes that are haphazardly tossed into bushels, with the ones on the bottom getting invariably squashed and rotten. If I'm paying for the fruit, I want quality fruit - and when I make my homemade labruscas, I am meticulous about quality at every step of the way.

I have a real soft spot for Niagara, the variety; but I've got some still from 2005 and so I really want to make more dry Concord this year. I haven't made a really good one since 2002, and really want to repeat that.

We're in for 1000 lbs of syrah and 1000 of sangio from the Sauber vineyard in El Dorado county. We used to get our sangio from the Michael David vineyard in Lodi, but they jacked their prices way up this year (most likely in a successful attempt to keep small-timers like us out of their hair). We may get 500 lbs of malbec from Sauber as well. We'll probably get 1000 lbs of tempranillo from St. Amant in Lodi, but we haven't talked to them yet.

I'm way behind in my '05 vintage - still have to bottle 5 gals each of a red blend, Cab Franc, 6.5 gals of Riesling and 21.5 gals of Vidal. Need to find time to wash bottles. That being said, I am going to pursue the purchase of Vignoles, which may force me to make Finger Lakes trip. I believe I have a new source for Seyval Blanc grapes and will be obtaining Steuben and Cayuga grapes from my usual source here in Niagara County. In addition, I will probably obtain Riesling, Chardonnay and Gamay as juice/must from a presshouse across the border in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont. If it looks like a good, ripe vintage, I may also obtain Cab Franc from them.

Carlo wrote:I plan on getting a half ton of Pinot from the Allen Vineyard in Headsburg on the Russian River.This will be second crop and I`m sure of 27brix or so ........So lots of water to make it frement dry.

27 Brix!! Yikes. In this area, we're happy to see 21 for Pinot Noir when picked for ripeness based on acid content. Perhaps you could arrange to get some early with lower brix instead of adding water. PN ripens late September in our area. The only time I ever got grapes at 27 Brix was a late harvest Vidal (picked in December) and a late harvest Delaware (picke din mid-October), both whites. I did get Foch (red) a few times at around 25 brix, picked in late September.

Howie Hart wrote:Perhaps you could arrange to get some early with lower brix instead of adding water.

Carlo - I agree with Howie's advice. Most winemaking texts call for adding water to labrusca must to bring down the acidity, but I have eschewed this flawed philosophy in favour of cold stabilizing the wine after fermentation. I really feel that adding water compromises the structure and backbone of the wine, and it obviously dilutes the flavour components as well - not a good idea.

Hard to beat a deal like that! Adding about 10% water may be your only option to bring the brix down close to 24. I'd recommend adding the water after pressing, but before fermentation stops, so you know exactly what volume you have and doing a titration for TA and probably adding some tartaric acid as needed. Also, a high alcohol yeast strain such as EC-1118. Good luck and keep us posted.

Carlo wrote:cold stabilizing ..............i`m a home winemaker and during crush i don`t have that option......all tanks are full or MT to be filled...

Cold stabilizing is not the same as a cold soak, which takes place after crushing. Cold stabilization is subjecting the finished wine (well after the crush) to below freezing temperatures prior to bottling for the purpose of precipitating out tartrates and helps to clear the wine. Although generally used in whites, it may help round out reds also.

I'm having second thoughts now about my plans for this year. I will be doing my traditional even year bubbly, but I think I'll finally take the great leap this year, buy a 60-gallon barrel and fill it with a Bordeaux blend (CS, CF, & Merlot) and allow it to age for 2 years in the barrel. I am pretty well stockpiled with whites from '05, so I may limit myself to Steuben Rose, Seyval and Vignoles, and, of course the bubbly cuvee.

I'd be tempted to try a trick a pinot producer friend of mine uses: water back to the desired brix before fermentation, then bleed off exactly the amount you added. This gives complete skin contact at lower sugar, and you can make a nice rose saignee from the bleed-off.

Victorwine wrote:Good luck Howie! Are we thinking of a co-fermentation or seperate fermentations?

Salute

Good question. I would more than likely buy the raw materials as crushed must from a presshouse in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont., in 23L pails, I could go either way. The decision may be dependant on my primary fermentation container capacity. I'll have to research this more. Experience tells me each pail will yield about 4 gallons after pressing, so I'd buy 18 pails to allow for topping up over 2 years in the barrel. However, if I could find a good source of grapes from say, Long Island, I might drive down there to get them. I'm thinking of 60/25/15 blend of CS/Merlot/CF.

I'll be doing my usual Labruscas and Hybrids: Delaware, Dutchess, Diamond, Catawba, Steuben, Cayuga. Maybe some Niagara and Traminette too. I keep trying to cut back but it never seems to happen. I buy juice in the Finger Lakes and in NorthEast, PA.

Dan Smothergill wrote:I'll be doing my usual Labruscas and Hybrids: Delaware, Dutchess, Diamond, Catawba, Steuben, Cayuga. Maybe some Niagara and Traminette too. I keep trying to cut back but it never seems to happen. I buy juice in the Finger Lakes and in NorthEast, PA.

Dan, I may take a trip to the FLs in October to score some Vignoles. Maybe we can hook up and maybe I can talk PaulB into joining us.